A week from right now, I will be in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport waiting to get on my flight to Japan. I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited and nervous about something at the same time. Half of my suitcase is full of candy and other gifts for the people I’m staying with. Forty-five pounds of souvenirs!

Looking forward to spending time exploring Tokyo. Akihabara, Shibuya, Harajuku, and so many other places are calling my name. I’m super excited about eating all the food. Things like takoyaki (octopus fritters), katsudon (pork cutlet fried eggs on rice), and karepan (fried bread with curry in the middle). There’s a lot of awesome snacks too, like Apollo, which is a UFO-shaped chocolate candy that’s half strawberry chocolate. Probably gonna gain forty-five pounds while I’m there.

Five weeks is no trip to the Lonely Mountain, but it’s plenty adventurous for me, and I can’t wait. See you in August!